Answer 2

When Plato discusses the Philosopher Kings he also mentions other classes of people he wishes to see. Among the other classes he includes workers, farmers, policemen, soldiers, civil servants, and all those who produce and distribute the material necessities of life. He however proposes to exclude artists and poets from his ideal society. Artists throughout the history of mankind have been those who comment most expressively on world issues. We can tell the mood of a time period based on the artwork that came out of it. Poets have been equally influential and have helped many a person to explore their inner feelings.

Poets and artists provide a society with culture. Their work helps to tie together people of different backgrounds. Everyone can relate to a picture about the troubled economy or a poem about World
War I. Many eras of our history have been defined by their artwork.Also art allows people to express themselves. Without it many people would be trapped inside their minds and not able to let anything out. And while Plato didn't propose to get rid of art, without having art related jobs many people would not be inclined to follow their passion of painting or writing. Whole professions and ways of life would be wiped out and as a result more people would probably go insane or become criminals.

Answer

My question was if you die you exist only as a memory, what happens when the bearer of that memory also dies? Will you cease to exist? Would it be like you never were here at all?

This question is also related to what is the purpose? Why are we hear? Everyone has a path in life that they choose in some sense of the word. We accomplish many things during our lives and meet and get to know a lot of people. In the movie It's a Wonderful Life, they show what happens when someone is never born however, what happens after we live our life and die. This world mourns for us temporarily but we are really insignificant. We are one person of seven billion on one planet of eight in one star system out of one hundred billion and one galaxy out of one hundred billion. So if we think of the universe as a whole, one person barely matters. Even the people who live on through books ect. after they die, barely even scratch the surface of the universe. This however is what makes humans so amazing. We know we are so small compared to the universe yet we try and make a difference. We don't care whether we will be remembered for ever, we still live life to the fullest. Because of this fact I think we continue to exist even after we and everyone who ever knew us or about us is gone as well.

Virtue

"To be a good human being it is good enough to know what human virtue is." (76)

Do serial killers know what human virtue is? Do rapists or thieves? If someone knows what a virtuous human being is, it does not make them virtuous and does not make them a good person. You can know that you are doing wrong and know what is right but simply knowing what is right is not enough. You need to practice at being nice, and good and doing well. 


Everyone is taught through their life, don't do this, do that, say please etc.  As we grow up we can make our own decisions about whether we follow the rules of being a good person. If we all simply were virtuous by nature of knowing what virtue was there would be no police, no crime, no murder. Everyone is taught what being a good person is and what virtue is, we choose whether or not we abide by these standards. Plato is naive to say that a person is virtuous by knowing the nature of the word. At least in modern day life there are examples of those who know better yet still do wrong. CEO's know that they should pay taxes and it is illegal to evade paying them however they pay less percentage in taxes than almost every other group of people. These CEO's have all gone to school, know enough to run a business and learned as much as any other person about right or wrong yet they choose to not do right in this aspect of their life.

Education

Plato was the first to see education as the key to constructing a better society. If we teach children to be well rounded individuals and to develop character to help society, society as a whole will be better. I agree with him wholeheartedly. With a good education you are three steps ahead right from the start. You can learn skills that you develop and improve throughout your lifetime. Without being a well rounded person how can you expect to learn anything more complex or move ahead in life?

You can see it everyday, people who sound more educated and look more put together get the better jobs. The person who walks into an interview with a suit is more likely to get the job than someone who walks in in jeans and a t-shirt. The t-shirt wearer will be lower on the list of who to hire before the interview even starts. No one wants to listen to someone whose not put together or who cannot pretend. We live in a material society and whether they want to or not people have made their minds up about you before you even speak.

By having a good education one can learn the do's and do not's of a society and learn how to act. We can learn the formal rules then decide whether or not to break them. Not having a good education can put you behind before you start because you do not know how to act and cannot respond to life situations in a 'normal' way. By everyone learning the rules first at least there is an even playing field.